UK: No expanded investigation in death of ex-KGB agent Litvinenko

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Russian ex-spy and fierce Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko is shown in London in September 2004.

Story highlights

UK officials will tell coroner in writing next week why they said no

"Everybody is down, because we didn't expect this," says widow of former KGB spy

Litvinenko, who moved to Britain after becoming whistle-blower, was poisoned in 2006

Before dying, he blamed Russian president; Russia denies accusation

The British government has rejected requests to hold a public inquiry into the 2006 death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, a spokesman for the coroner's inquest said Friday.

Litvinenko's widow has been pressing for a public inquiry in addition to a basic inquest -- a coroner-led investigation that is held as a matter of course in the case of unnatural deaths in England, where Litvinenko died after being poisoned.

UK officials will apprise Coroner Sir Robert Owen in writing early next week of why the public inquiry was rejected, according to a transcript of a hearing held Friday in the matter.

A public inquiry, unlike an inquest, can receive evidence behind closed doors. In Litvinenko's case, such evidence could involve matters of national security, and his widow, Marina Litvinenko, had argued that a public inquiry would enable the fullest possible investigation.

In a deathbed statement, Alexander Litvinenko blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his poisoning, an accusation the Kremlin has strongly denied.